


Sleep Issues

by helsinkibaby



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Age Difference, Community: comment_fic, F/M, Het, Rare Pair, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-01
Updated: 2016-09-01
Packaged: 2018-08-12 11:03:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7932190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helsinkibaby/pseuds/helsinkibaby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Let's spend the night having sleep issues together."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sleep Issues

**Author's Note:**

> Theme : e-cards  
> Prompt: any, any, let's the spend the night having sleep issues together   
> http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/748150.html?thread=98811766#t98811766

When Joe walks into the cortex, the only person there is Caitlin. It's not a surprise because Barry had already called and told him earlier that he and Iris were on their way home, and he'd passed Cisco on his way out. Barry had sounded shattered, Cisco had looked it but one look at Caitlin's posture - her back dead straight, her shoulders tense enough to make his own ache in sympathy - tells him that while she's likely equally tired, he's still going to have a hard time getting her out of here. 

"Hey." He keeps his greeting simple, his voice light. When Caitlin turns to glance in his direction, it takes all his composure to keep his expression level. Her face is devoid of colour, skin completely ashen. Her make-up can't even come close to hiding the dark circles under her eyes and while usually they take it in turns to nap in one of the spare offices when they're pulling all-nighters at STAR Labs, he'd be willing to bet she hasn't even been doing that. 

"Hi." Her voice is high, tight. She swings her gaze back to her computer screen and he walks over to look at it over her shoulder. He can't even begin to make sense of all the letters and lines and squiggles he sees there but looking at them for even a few seconds makes his eyes hurt. Caitlin's furrowed brow suddenly makes a lot more sense. "I just need a little more time with this," she tells him. "I'm so close..."

Barry and Cisco had told him different though, and he was more than familiar with how stubborn Caitlin could be when it came to figuring out a problem. "You think you're gonna figure it out before you collapse?" 

If looks could kill, he'd be the one collapsing. Her lips press into a thin line as her head whips around and she turns a laser sharp glare on him. "Yes," she tells him tartly, turning her back on him again. 

He doesn't try to keep back his sigh, knowing he'd said the wrong thing. Slowly, carefully, he lets his hands move to her shoulders and, when she doesn't shrug off his touch, he begins to make slow careful circles there. After a moment, he feels a little of the tension ease, after a moment more she makes a little sound at the back of her throat and leans into his touch. 

After a couple of quiet minutes, he tries again. "This will still be here in the morning," he tells her. 

It's her turn to sigh. "If Barry hadn't been there..." She stops and he feels the shudder wrack her body. "If we hadn't been able to stabilise him, Cisco..." Her voice breaks on her friend's name and her hand goes to her lips. 

Joe drops his hands, spins her chair around as he kneels down in front of her. "Cisco is fine," he says. "You saved him."

"And if I find something in his blood that can stop it happening again..." she begins, gesturing to the computer but he doesn't let her finish. 

"You will." He has the utmost faith in her. "But not tonight, not like this." He lays a hand on her cheek, caresses it gently before turning it so that his knuckles brush lightly over her skin. "Baby, you need to rest. You're no good to anyone if you make yourself sick." She opens her mouth to reply but he's not finished. "And you'd be the first person to tell any of us that." 

She can't deny it and she looks down, a flush coating her cheeks. It's the first hint of colour he's seen since he walked in here and he's glad of it. "It's not like I'm going to sleep," she tells him. "After the last few days it's going to be dreams about a damp cave and blue lightning..." Thoughts of her current default stress nightmare make her shudder and having seen the effects those dreams have on her, he's not looking forward to the prospect either. "I'll just keep you awake." 

He lifts an eyebrow. "Please. After the last couple of days, I'm likely to see each of my kids in various life threatening circumstances and only be able to save one of them." That was his recurring nightmare: he doesn't tell her that sometimes, she's the one in danger, the one he can't save. He thinks she might already know. 

Her eyes narrow again, but this time in consideration rather than anger. "So you're saying we should spend the night having sleep issues together?" 

Her lips twitch and he straight up laughs. "Wouldn't be the first time." Which is depressingly true but he doesn't feel depressed as he stands up, as she lets him take her hand and pull her up out of her seat. She also lets him pull her close to him, slide his other arm around her waist. "Besides, I'm sure we can find something to keep us occupied..."

And sure enough, they do.


End file.
